A fathers’ shared flat in St. Pauli: “You move in with someone you don’t know, with your daughter. Crazy!”

After separating, Malte Renius asked himself how he could keep his apartment. His answer was unusual: find another father as a roommate. He eventually formed a shared household with Marc Lüdtke in Hamburg’s St. Pauli district, where their daughters share a bedroom.

Renius, 51, works part time as a secondary-school teacher of German and physics. He has lived in the apartment with his daughters, Penelope, 12, and Valeria, 8, since 2020. He wanted precisely this kind of living arrangement, but it took several failed attempts before it became possible.

The shared flat is presented as a way for two separated fathers to organize family life together while managing housing costs. The series visits people in their homes and asks how they live, what it costs and where the arrangement becomes difficult.

The central question is whether a parenting flat shared by two fathers can work in practice. The St. Pauli household offers one example of an unconventional response to separation, housing pressures and everyday childcare.

“

You move in with someone you don’t know, with your daughter. Crazy!